1.
15th century
–
The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian years 1400 to 1500. In Europe, the 15th century is seen as the bridge between the Late Middle Ages, the Early Renaissance, and the Early modern period. Many technological, social and cultural developments of the 15th century can in retrospect be seen as heralding the European miracle of the following centuries, in religious history, the Roman Papacy was split in two parts in Europe for decades, until the Council of Constance. The division of the Catholic Church and the unrest associated with the Hussite movement would become factors in the rise of the Protestant Reformation in the following century. The event forced Western Europeans to find a new route, adding further momentum to what was the beginning of the Age of Discovery. Explorations by the Spanish and Portuguese led to European sightings of the Americas and these expeditions ushered in the era of the Portuguese and Spanish colonial empires. The fall of Constantinople led to the migration of Greek scholars and texts to Italy and these two events played key roles in the development of the Renaissance. The Spanish Reconquista leads to the fall of the Emirate of Granada by the end of the century, ending over seven centuries of Muslim rule. The Hundred Years War end with a decisive French victory over the English in the Battle of Castillon, financial troubles in England following the conflict results in the Wars of the Roses, a series of dynastic wars for the throne of England. The conflicts ends with the defeat of Richard III by Henry VII at the Battle of Bosworth Field, establishing the Tudor dynasty in the later part of the century. In Asia, under the rule of the Yongle Emperor, who built the Forbidden City and commanded Zheng He to explore the world overseas, tamerlane established a major empire in the Middle East and Central Asia, in order to revive the Mongol Empire. In Africa, the spread of Islam leads to the destruction of the Christian kingdoms of Nubia, the formerly vast Mali Empire teeters on the brink of collapse, under pressure from the rising Songhai Empire. In the Americas, both the Inca Empire and the Aztec Empire reach the peak of their influence, 1400s 1401, Dilawar Khan establishes the Malwa Sultanate in present-day central India 1402, Ottoman and Timurid Empires fight at the Battle of Ankara resulting in Timurs capture of Bayezid I. 1402, Sultanate of Malacca founded by Parameshwara,1403, The Yongle Emperor moves the capital of China from Nanjing to Beijing. 1403, The settlement of the Canary Islands signals the beginning of the Spanish Empire, 1405–1433, Zheng He of China sails through the Indian Ocean to India, Arabia, and East Africa to spread Chinas influence and sovereignty. 1405, Paregreg war, Majapahit civil war of succession between Wikramawardhana against Wirabhumi, 1405–1407, The first voyage of Zheng He, a massive Ming dynasty naval expedition visited Java, Palembang, Malacca, Aru, Samudera and Lambri. 1410s 1410, The Battle of Grunwald is the battle of the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War leading to the downfall of the Teutonic Knights. 1410–1413, Foundation of St Andrews University in Scotland,1414, Khizr Khan, deputised by Timur to be the governor of Multan, takes over Delhi founding the Sayyid dynasty

2.
16th century
–
The 16th century begins with the Julian year 1500 and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian year 1600. It is regarded by historians as the century in which the rise of the West occurred, during the 16th century, Spain and Portugal explored the worlds seas and opened worldwide oceanic trade routes. In Europe, the Protestant Reformation gave a blow to the authority of the papacy. European politics became dominated by conflicts, with the groundwork for the epochal Thirty Years War being laid towards the end of the century. In Italy, Luca Pacioli published the first work ever on accounting, in United Kingdom, the Italian Alberico Gentili wrote the first book on public international law and divided secularism from canon law and Roman Catholic theology. In the Middle East, the Ottoman Empire continued to expand, with the Sultan taking the title of Caliph, China evacuated the coastal areas, because of Japanese piracy. Japan was suffering a civil war at the time. Mughal Emperor Akbar extended the power of the Mughal Empire to cover most of the South Asian sub continent and his rule significantly influenced arts, and culture in the region. These events directly challenged the notion of an immutable universe supported by Ptolemy and Aristotle. Polybius The Histories translated into Italian, English, German and French, medallion rug, variant Star Ushak style, Anatolia, is made. It is now kept at The Saint Louis Art Museum,1500, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain was born. 1500, Guru Nanak the beginning and spreading of the 5th largest Religion in the World Sikhism,1500, Spanish navigator Vicente Yáñez Pinzón encounters Brazil but is prevented from claiming it by the Treaty of Tordesillas. 1500, Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral claims Brazil for Portugal,1500, The Ottoman fleet of Kemal Reis defeats the Venetians at the Second Battle of Lepanto. 1501, Michelangelo returns to his native Florence to begin work on the statue David,1501, Safavid dynasty reunified Iran and ruled over it until 1736. Safavids adopt a Shia branch of Islam,1502, First reported African slaves in The New World 1503, Foundation of the Sultanate of Sennar by Amara Dunqas, in what is modern Sudan 1503, Spain defeats France at the Battle of Cerignola. Considered to be the first battle in history won by gunpowder small arms,1503, Leonardo da Vinci begins painting the Mona Lisa and completes it three years later. 1503, Nostradamus was born on either December 14, or December 21,1504, A period of drought, with famine in all of Spain. 1504, Death of Isabella I of Castile, Joanna of Castille became the Queen,1505, Zhengde Emperor ascended the throne of Ming Dynasty

3.
17th century
–
The 17th century was the century that lasted from January 1,1601, to December 31,1700, in the Gregorian calendar. The greatest military conflicts were the Thirty Years War, the Great Turkish War, in the Islamic world, the Ottoman, Safavid Persian and Mughal empires grew in strength. In Japan, Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Edo period at the beginning of the century, European politics were dominated by the Kingdom of France of Louis XIV, where royal power was solidified domestically in the civil war of the Fronde. With domestic peace assured, Louis XIV caused the borders of France to be expanded and it was during this century that English monarch became a symbolic figurehead and Parliament was the dominant force in government – a contrast to most of Europe, in particular France. It was also a period of development of culture in general,1600, On February 17 Giordano Bruno is burned at the stake by the Inquisition. 1600, Michael the Brave unifies the three Romanian countries, Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania after the Battle of Șelimbăr from 1599. 1601, Battle of Kinsale, England defeats Irish and Spanish forces at the town of Kinsale, driving the Gaelic aristocracy out of Ireland and destroying the Gaelic clan system. 1601, Michael the Brave, voivode of Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania, is assassinated by the order of the Habsburg general Giorgio Basta at Câmpia Turzii, 1601–1603, The Russian famine of 1601–1603 kills perhaps one-third of Russia. 1601, Panembahan Senopati, first king of Mataram, dies and passes rule to his son Panembahan Seda ing Krapyak 1601,1602, Matteo Ricci produces the Map of the Myriad Countries of the World, a world map that will be used throughout East Asia for centuries. 1602, The Portuguese send an expeditionary force from Malacca which succeeded in reimposing a degree of Portuguese control. 1602, The Dutch East India Company is established by merging competing Dutch trading companies and its success contributes to the Dutch Golden Age. 1602, Two emissaries from the Aceh Sultanate visit the Dutch Republic,1603, Elizabeth I of England dies and is succeeded by her cousin King James VI of Scotland, uniting the crowns of Scotland and England. 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu takes the title of Shogun, establishing the Tokugawa Shogunate and this begins the Edo period, which will last until 1869. 1603–1623, After modernizing his army, Abbas I expands the Persian Empire by capturing territory from the Ottomans,1603, First permanent Dutch trading post is established in Banten, West Java. First successful VOC privateering raid on a Portuguese ship,1604, A second English East India Company voyage commanded by Sir Henry Middleton reaches Ternate, Tidore, Ambon and Banda. 1605, Gunpowder Plot failed in England,1605, The fortresses of Veszprém and Visegrad are retaken by the Ottomans. 1605, February, The VOC in alliance with Hitu prepare to attack a Portuguese fort in Ambon,1605, Panembahan Seda ing Krapyak of Mataram establishes control over Demak, former center of the Demak Sultanate. 1606, Treaty of Vienna ends anti-Habsburg uprising in Royal Hungary,1606, Assassination of Stephen Bocskay of Transylvania

4.
1510s
–
January – Catherine of Aragon gives birth to her first child, a stillborn daughter. January 23 – An 18-year-old Henry VIII of England jousts anonymously at Richmond, Surrey, february 27 – Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Goa. May 30 – Rebel leader Zhu Zhifan is defeated and captured by commander Qiu Yue, july – The Holy League, formed to defend the Italian States, attacks French-occupied Genoa. December 2 – Battle of Marv, Shah Ismail I defeats the Uzbek forces of Shaybani Khan in Khorasan, the Grand Prince of Moscow Vasili III conquers Pskov Peter Henlein builds the first pocket watch. Sir Thomas More becomes undersheriff of the City of London, paolo Cortese publishes De Cardinalatu, a manual for cardinals, including advice on palatial architecture – which inspires Thomas Wolsey in his construction work at Hampton Court Palace. Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa moves to Italy, april 9 St Johns College, Cambridge, England, founded by Lady Margaret Beaufort, receives its charter. The Şahkulu Rebellion breaks out in Anatolia, july – Henry VIII of Englands flagship, the Mary Rose, is launched at Portsmouth. The Sultanate then establishes rule from Johor, starting decades of skirmishes against the Portuguese to regain the fallen city, while taking the city, the Portuguese slaughter a large community of Chinese merchants living there. Malacca is the first city in Southeast Asia to be taken by a Western nation, october 12 – James IV of Scotlands great ship, the Michael, is launched at Newhaven, Edinburgh. November – The Treaty of Westminster creates an alliance between Henry VIII of England and Ferdinand II of Aragon against France, november 20 – Sinking of the vessel Frol de la Mar transporting Afonso de Albuquerque and the valuable treasure of the conquest of Malacca en route to Goa. Diego Velázquez and Hernán Cortés conquer Cuba, Velázquez is appointed Governor, duarte Barbosa arrives in India for the second time. He works as clerk in the factory of Cananor and as the liaison with the Indian rajah, Ferdinand II of Aragon observes that one black can do the work of four Indians. Juan de Agramonte, a sailor from Spain, is possibly to have travelled to Newfoundland. Taíno, an indigenous uprising occurs in southwestern Puerto Rico near Guánica, the first black slaves arrive in Colombia. The Spanish conquest of Yucatán begins, Erasmus publishes his most famous work, The Praise of Folly, as Moriae encomium / Laus stultitiae. Middle of January – After Regent of Sweden Svante Nilsson dies on January 2 and he is however ousted after only six months. February 18 – War of the League of Cambrai, Sack of Brescia by the French. April 11 – War of the League of Cambrai, Battle of Ravenna, French forces under Gaston of Foix, Duke of Nemours defeat the Spanish under Raymond of Cardona, may 3 – The Fifth Council of the Lateran starts

5.
1520s
–
January 19 – King Christian II of Denmark and Norway defeats the Swedes at Lake Åsunden in Sweden. The Swedish regent Sten Sture the Younger is mortally wounded in the battle and he is rushed towards Stockholm, in order to lead the fight against the Danes from there, but dies from his wounds on February 3. June – Moctezuma II, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan, is declared deposed due to his captivity by conquistador Hernán Cortés and his brother Cuitláhuac rises to the throne. June 7 – King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France meet at the famous Field of Cloth of Gold, June 10 – Revolt of the Comuneros, Blockade of Segovia. June 15 – Pope Leo X issues the bull Exsurge Domine, threatening Martin Luther with excommunication if he does not recant his position on indulgences and other Catholic doctrines. July 1 – La Noche Triste, The forces of Cuitláhuac, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan and this results in the death of about 400 conquistadors and some 2,000 of their Native American allies. However, Cortés and the most skilled of his men manage to escape, july 20 – The Spaniards defeat the Aztecs at Otumba near Lake Texcaco. August – Martin Luther writes To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, september 7 – Christian II makes his triumphant entry into Stockholm, which has surrendered to him a few days earlier. September 22 – Suleiman I succeeds his father Selim I as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, October – Cuitláhuac, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan, dies from smallpox. He is succeeded by his nephew Cuauhtémoc, October 21 – The islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon are discovered by Portuguese explorer João Álvares Fagundes off Newfoundland. He names them Islands of the 11,000 Virgins in honour of Saint Ursula, november 1 – Christian II is elected king of Sweden. November 4 – Christian II is crowned king of Sweden, the coronation is followed by a three-day feast in Stockholm. November 7 – At the end of the day of Christians coronation feast. December 10 – Martin Luther burns a copy of The Book of Canon Law, the Franciscan friar Matteo Bassi is inspired to return to the primitive life of solitude and penance as practiced by St. Francis, giving rise to the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. Aleksandra Lisowska is given as a gift to Suleiman I on the occasion of his accession to the throne, january 3 – Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem. January 22 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, opens the Diet of Worms in Worms, january 27 – Suleiman the Magnificent suppresses a revolt by the ruler of Damascus. January 28 – The Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25, February 2 – The Nydala Abbey Bloodbath take place in Nydala Abbey in Sweden. March 6 Ferdinand Magellan discovers Guam, Martin Luther is summoned to appear before the Diet of Worms

6.
1570s
–
January 9 – Ivan the Terrible starts the Massacre of Novgorod. January 23 – The assassination of Scottish regent James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, february 8 – A magnitude 8.3 earthquake occurs in Concepción, Chile. February 15 – Venus occults Jupiter, this will happen in 1818. February 25 – Pope Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth I of England with the bull Regnans in Excelsis, may 20 – Abraham Ortelius publishes the first modern atlas, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, in Antwerp. June 10 – The Kingdom of Livonia is established, july 3 – Ottoman conquest of Cyprus begins. July 14 – Pope Pius V issues Quo primum, promulgating the 1570 edition of the Roman Missal, August 8 – The Peace of Saint-Germain ends the Third War of Religion in France. Again, the Huguenots are promised freedom and political autonomy. Spanish conquistador Juan de Salcedo in the service of Miguel López de Legazpi begins conquest of the Kingdom of Maynila, construction of the original Catedral Nuestra Señora de La Asunción, the oldest church in Venezuela, begins. Whitechapel Bell Foundry known to be in existence in London, by 2017, when it closes its premises in Whitechapel, it will be the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain. Andrea Palladio publishes I quattro libri dellarchitettura in Venice, volcanic eruption in the Santorini caldera begins. The Andean population of the Viceroyalty of Peru reaches 1.3 million, january 11 – The Austrian nobility are granted freedom of religion. January 23 – The Royal Exchange opens in London, England, march 18 – The Order of the Knights of Saint John transfer the capital of Malta from Birgu to Valletta. May 24 – Moscow is burnt by the Crimean army under Devlet I Giray, June 3 – Following conquest of the Kingdom of Maynila, Spanish Conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi makes Manila a city and the capital of the Philippines. June 25 – Queen Elizabeths Grammar School, Horncastle, is founded in Lincolnshire, June 27 – Establishment of Jesus College within the City and University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeths foundation in England by Welsh cleric and lawyer Hugh Price. July 25 – St Olaves Grammar School is founded in Tooley Street, August 1 – Ottoman conquest of Cyprus is concluded by the surrender of Famagusta. Cyprus is established as an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire and the first Turkish colony moves into the island, August 29 – Foundation of Liliw, Laguna, Philippines, by Gat Tayaw, followers and residents as a municipality of Laguna. September 28 – The House of Commons of England introduces the first pro forma bill, october 7 – Battle of Lepanto, Spanish, Venetian, and Papal naval forces under Don John of Austria defeat the Turkish fleet of Ali Monizindade Pasha. Using mercury in the extraction process dramatically increases the output of the Potosí mine, thus begins the great silver flow that links the New

7.
1539
–
Year 1539 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. January – Battle of Naungyo, Burma, part of the Toungoo–Hanthawaddy War, january 12 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Francis I of France sign the Treaty of Toledo, agreeing to make no further alliances with England. The treaty comes after Henry VIII of Englands split with Rome, february 9 – First horse race held at Chester Racecourse, the oldest in use in England. March – Canterbury Cathedral surrenders, and reverts to its previous status of a college of secular canons, may 30 – In Florida, Hernando de Soto lands at Tampa Bay with 600 soldiers with the goal to find gold. He also introduces pigs into North America, may – The Six Articles, an Act of the Parliament of England, reaffirms certain Catholic principles in Henry VIIIs Church of England. September 7 – Guru Angad Dev becomes the second Guru of the Sikhs, october 4 – Henry VIII contracts to marry Anne of Cleves. November 1 Joachim II Hector introduces lutheranism in the Margraviate of Brandenburg, Protestant Reformation Lutheranism is forcibly introduced into Iceland, despite the opposition of Bishop Jón Arason. Beaulieu Abbey, Bolton Abbey, Colchester Abbey, Newstead Abbey, St Albans Abbey, St Marys Abbey, York, First edition of the Calvinist Genevan psalter is published. In Henan province, China, a drought with swarms of locusts is made worse by a major epidemic outbreak of the plague. The first printing press in North America is set up in Mexico City, teseo Ambrogios Introductio in Chaldaicam lingua, Syriaca atq Armenica, & dece alias linguas, published in Pavia, introduces several middle eastern languages to western Europe for the first time

8.
1541
–
Year 1541 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. February 12 – Pedro de Valdivia founds Santiago del Nuevo Extremo which will become the capital of Chile, april 7 – Francis Xavier leaves Lisbon on a mission to the Portuguese East Indies. April 24 – Battle of Sahart, The Emperor of Ethiopia defeats an attack by the forces of Imam Ahmad Gragn, may 8 – Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River, naming it the Rio de Espiritu Santo. May 23 – Jacques Cartier departs from Saint-Malo, France on his third voyage, august 29 – The Janissaries of Suleiman the Magnificent take Buda by ruse, hiding themselves as visitors. October – An Algerian military campaign by Charles V of Spain is unsuccessful, the Portuguese defeat the Muslims near Lake Tana. Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent seals off The Golden Gate in Jerusalem, gerardus Mercator makes his first globe. The first official translation of the entire Bible into Swedish is made, john Calvin translates his Institutio Christianae religionis into French as LInstitution chrétienne. Elia Levitas chivalric romance, the Bovo-Bukh, is first printed, the earliest published secular work in Yiddish

9.
1542
–
Year 1542 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. February 2 – Battle of Baçente, The Portuguese under Cristóvão da Gama capture a Moslem-occupied hillfort in northern Ethiopia, february 13 – Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, is executed for adultery. February 14 – Guadalajara, Mexico, is founded by the Spaniards after 3 previous attempts failed, march 8 – Antoine Escalin des Eymars, the French ambassador, returns from Constantinople with promises of Ottoman aid in a war against Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. April 4–16 – Battle of Jarte in Ethiopia, The Portuguese under Cristóvão da Gama encounter the army of Imam Ahmad Gragn, may 19 – The Prome Kingdom, in modern-day central Burma, is conquered by the Taungoo Dynasty. July 12 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor declares war on King Francis I of France and this time King Henry VIII of England is allied to the Emperor, while James V of Scotland and Sultan Suleiman I are allied to the French. August – Battle of the Hill of the Jews, During the rainy season, Cristóvão da Gama captures a strategic position, august 24 – Battle of Haddon Rig, Scotland defeats England. August 27 – Citizens of Hildesheim in the Holy Roman Empire profess themselves to the Lutheran teachings, as a pledge owner, the city provides for the carrying out of the Protestant Reformation in the city and Peine. Priests from the localities of Clauen, Hohenhameln, Soßmar, Schmedenstedt, Lengede, august 28 – Battle of Wofla in Ethiopia, Reinforced with at least 600 arquebusiers and cavalry, Imam Ahmad Gragn attacks the Portuguese camp. The Portuguese are scattered, Cristóvão da Gama is captured and executed, september 4 – Earliest recorded Preston Guild Court in Lancashire, England, in the modern sequence, which lasts unbroken until 1922. September 28 – Portuguese explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo lands in what is now San Diego Bay and names it San Miguel, october 7 – Cabrillo becomes the first European to set foot on Santa Catalina Island, California. November 24 – Battle of Solway Moss, An English army invades Scotland, december 14 – Mary, Queen of Scots, becomes queen regnant at the age of only one week on the death of her father, James V of Scotland. The first contact of Japan with the West occurs when a Portuguese ship, blown off its course to China, lands Fernão Mendes Pinto, Diogo Zeimoto, pope Paul III establishes the Holy Office with jurisdiction over the Roman Inquisition. Bartolomé de las Casas completes A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, which would be published in 1552

10.
1543
–
Year 1543 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. It is one of the years referred to as an Annus mirabilis because of its significant publications in science. February 11 – King Henry VIII of England allies with Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, march King Gustav Vasas troops crush the forces of Swedish peasant rebel Nils Dacke in battle, ending the uprising. Dacke escapes but is captured and killed in the summer, consolidating Act of Welsh Union, The Parliament of England establishes counties and regularises parliamentary representation in Wales. April – Campaign of Suleiman, Suleiman the Magnificent, Ottoman Emperor, may – Nicolaus Copernicus publishes De revolutionibus orbium coelestium in Nuremberg, offering mathematical arguments for the existence of the heliocentric universe, denying the geocentric model. Copernicus dies on May 24 in Frombork at the age of 70, june – Andreas Vesalius publishes De humani corporis fabrica, revolutionising the science of human anatomy. July 1 – Treaty of Greenwich between England and Scotland, july 12 – King Henry VIII of England marries Catherine Parr. It is the sixth and last of Henrys marriages and the third of Catherines and this month, the Parliament of England passes the Third Succession Act restoring the Princesses Mary and Elizabeth, Henrys daughters, to the line of succession to the English throne. July 25–August 10 – Siege of Esztergom, Suleiman the Magnificent, Ottoman Emperor, august 6–22 – Siege of Nice, Ottoman Empire and French forces led by Admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa besiege and take Nice. September – Campaign of Suleiman, Suleiman the Magnificent captures the Hungarian coronation city of Székesfehérvár, the city will be occupied by the Ottoman Empire for 145 years. Martin Luther publishes On the Jews and Their Lies, lighthouse of Genoa completed in present form. Indians in the Spanish Empire are declared free against the wish of local settlers

11.
1544
–
Year 1544 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. January 13 – At Västerås, the estates of Sweden swear loyalty to king Gustav Vasa and to his heirs, Gustav subsequently signs an alliance with the Kingdom of France. April 11 – Battle of Ceresole, French forces under the Comte dEnghien defeat forces of the Holy Roman Empire under the Marques Del Vasto near Turin, may – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, again invades eastern France. May 3 – Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, with an English army captures Leith, june 19–August 18 – Troops of the Holy Roman Empire besiege Saint-Dizier in eastern France. July – Battle of the Shirts, The Clan Fraser of Lovat and Macdonalds of Clan Ranald fight over a disputed chiefship in Scotland, reportedly, five Frasers and eight Macdonalds survive. July 19–September 14 – First Siege of Boulogne, King Henry VIII of England besieges and captures Boulogne in northern France during the Italian War of 1542–46, september 18 – Peace of Crépy, Peace is declared between Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and Francis I of France. The war between France and England continues, september 22 – Captain Juan Bautista Pastene leads the first European expedition to the estuary of Valdivia, Chile and Corral Bay. October 9 – Second Siege of Boulogne, French forces under the Dauphin assault Boulogne, mongols burn the suburbs of Peking in China. The University of Königsberg is founded, orto botanico di Pisa botanical garden established by Cosimo I de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, in Italy under the direction of botanist Luca Ghini, who also creates the first herbarium. Rats make their first appearance in North America, portuguese explorers encounter the island of Taiwan and call it Ilha Formosa

12.
France
–
France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks

13.
Francis I of France
–
Francis I was the first King of France from the Angoulême branch of the House of Valois, reigning from 1515 until his death. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and he succeeded his cousin and father-in-law Louis XII, who died without a male heir. Francis reign saw important cultural changes with the rise of absolute monarchy in France, the spread of humanism and Protestantism, Jacques Cartier and others claimed lands in the Americas for France and paved the way for the expansion of the first French colonial empire. For his role in the development and promotion of a standardized French language, he became known as le Père et Restaurateur des Lettres. He was also known as François au Grand Nez, the Grand Colas, following the policy of his predecessors, Francis continued the Italian Wars. In his struggle against Imperial hegemony, he sought the support of Henry VIII of England at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. When this was unsuccessful, he formed a Franco-Ottoman alliance with the Muslim sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, a controversial move for a Christian king at the time. Francis was born on 12 September 1494 at the Château de Cognac in the town of Cognac, which at that time lay in the province of Saintonge, today the town lies in the department of Charente. Francis was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. His family was not expected to inherit the throne, as his third cousin King Charles VIII was still young at the time of his birth, as was his fathers cousin the Duke of Orléans, later King Louis XII. However, Charles VIII died childless in 1498 and was succeeded by Louis XII, the Salic Law prevailed in France, thus females were ineligible to inherit the throne. Therefore, the four-year-old Francis became the heir presumptive to the throne of France in 1498 and was vested with the title of Duke of Valois. In 1505, Louis XII, having fallen ill, ordered that his daughter Claude and Francis be married immediately, Claude was heiress to the Duchy of Brittany through her mother, Anne of Brittany. Following Annes death, the took place on 18 May 1514. Louis died shortly afterwards and Francis inherited the throne and he was crowned King of France in the Cathedral of Reims on 25 January 1515, with Claude as his queen consort. As Francis was receiving his education, ideas emerging from the Italian Renaissance were influential in France, some of his tutors, such as François Desmoulins de Rochefort and Christophe de Longueil, were attracted by these new ways of thinking and attempted to influence Francis. His academic education had been in arithmetic, geography, grammar, history, reading, spelling, Francis came to learn chivalry, dancing, and music and he loved archery, falconry, horseback riding, hunting, jousting, real tennis and wrestling. He ended up reading philosophy and theology and he was fascinated with art, literature, poetry and his mother, who had a high admiration for Italian Renaissance art, passed this interest on to her son

14.
Antoine Escalin des Eymars
–
Antoine Escalin des Aimars, also known as Captain Polin or Captain Paulin, later Baron de La Garde, was French ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1541 to 1547, and Général des Galères from 1544. Polin was noticed by Guillaume du Bellay as a officer of the French Army during the Italian Wars in the Piedmont. Polin succeeded ambassador Antoine de Rincon in Constantinople, Polin tried to convince Venice to join the alliance, but in vain. The execution of the alliance would most notably lead to the Franco-Ottoman Siege of Nice in 1543, Polin went to see king Francis I of France to obtain troops, which led to the Siege of Nice in August 1543. Polin supervised the wintering of the Ottomans at Toulon, then, in 1544, five French galleys under Polin, including the superb Réale, accompanied Barbarossas fleet, on a diplomatic mission to Suleiman. Jerôme Maurand, a priest of Antibes who accompanied Polin and the Ottoman fleet in 1544 and they arrived in Constantinople on 10 August 1544 to meet with Suleiman and give him an account of the campaign. Polin was back to Toulon on 2 October 1544, in 1545, Polin was on his way to fight against the English in the area of Boulogne. While in Marseilles in 1545, Polin was involved as a leader in the massacre of the Protestant Waldensians, outside the Piedmont the Waldenses joined the local Protestant churches in Bohemia, France and Germany. Deaths ranged from hundreds to thousands, depending on the estimates, after these deeds, Polin participated to the French invasion of the Isle of Wight that same year. He was succeeded as ambassador to the Porte by Gabriel de Luetz in 1547, in 1553, Polin again cooperated with the Ottoman fleet in the Mediterranean, in the events surrounding the Invasion of Corsica. In 1571, Polin was involved in the conflict against the Huguenots in La Rochelle as a commander in the French Navy fleet which was making a blocus of the city, together with Filippo di Piero Strozzi

15.
Constantinople
–
Constantinople was the capital city of the Roman/Byzantine Empire, and also of the brief Latin, and the later Ottoman empires. It was reinaugurated in 324 AD from ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great, after whom it was named, Constantinople was famed for its massive and complex defences. The first wall of the city was erected by Constantine I, Constantinople never truly recovered from the devastation of the Fourth Crusade and the decades of misrule by the Latins. The origins of the name of Byzantion, more known by the later Latin Byzantium, are not entirely clear. The founding myth of the city has it told that the settlement was named after the leader of the Megarian colonists, Byzas. The later Byzantines of Constantinople themselves would maintain that the city was named in honour of two men, Byzas and Antes, though this was likely just a play on the word Byzantion. During this time, the city was also called Second Rome, Eastern Rome, and Roma Constantinopolitana. As the city became the remaining capital of the Roman Empire after the fall of the West, and its wealth, population, and influence grew. In the language of other peoples, Constantinople was referred to just as reverently, the medieval Vikings, who had contacts with the empire through their expansion in eastern Europe used the Old Norse name Miklagarðr, and later Miklagard and Miklagarth. In Arabic, the city was sometimes called Rūmiyyat al-kubra and in Persian as Takht-e Rum, in East and South Slavic languages, including in medieval Russia, Constantinople was referred to as Tsargrad or Carigrad, City of the Caesar, from the Slavonic words tsar and grad. This was presumably a calque on a Greek phrase such as Βασιλέως Πόλις, the modern Turkish name for the city, İstanbul, derives from the Greek phrase eis tin polin, meaning into the city or to the city. In 1928, the Turkish alphabet was changed from Arabic script to Latin script, in time the city came to be known as Istanbul and its variations in most world languages. In Greece today, the city is still called Konstantinoúpolis/Konstantinoúpoli or simply just the City, apart from this, little is known about this initial settlement, except that it was abandoned by the time the Megarian colonists settled the site anew. A farsighted treaty with the emergent power of Rome in c.150 BC which stipulated tribute in exchange for independent status allowed it to enter Roman rule unscathed. The site lay astride the land route from Europe to Asia and the seaway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, and had in the Golden Horn an excellent and spacious harbour. He would later rebuild Byzantium towards the end of his reign, in which it would be briefly renamed Augusta Antonina, fortifying it with a new city wall in his name, Constantine had altogether more colourful plans. Rome was too far from the frontiers, and hence from the armies and the imperial courts, yet it had been the capital of the state for over a thousand years, and it might have seemed unthinkable to suggest that the capital be moved to a different location. Constantinople was built over 6 years, and consecrated on 11 May 330, Constantine divided the expanded city, like Rome, into 14 regions, and ornamented it with public works worthy of an imperial metropolis

16.
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
–
Charles V was ruler of both the Spanish Empire from 1516 and the Holy Roman Empire from 1519, as well as of the Habsburg Netherlands from 1506. He voluntarily stepped down from these and other positions by a series of abdications between 1554 and 1556, through inheritance, he brought together under his rule extensive territories in western, central, and southern Europe, and the Spanish colonies in the Americas and Asia. As a result, his domains spanned nearly four square kilometers and were the first to be described as the empire on which the sun never sets. Charles was the heir of three of Europes leading dynasties, the Houses of Valois-Burgundy, Habsburg, and Trastámara and he inherited the Burgundian Netherlands and the Franche-Comté as heir of the House of Valois-Burgundy. From his own dynasty, the Habsburgs, he inherited Austria and he was also elected to succeed his Habsburg grandfather, Maximilian I, as Holy Roman Emperor, a title held by the Habsburgs since 1440. Charles was the first king to rule Castile and Aragon simultaneously in his own right, the personal union, under Charles, of the Holy Roman Empire with the Spanish Empire resulted in the closest Europe would come to a universal monarchy since the death of Louis the Pious. France recovered and the wars continued for the remainder of Charless reign, enormously expensive, they led to the development of the first modern professional army in Europe, the Tercios. The struggle with the Ottoman Empire was fought in Hungary and the Mediterranean, after seizing most of eastern and central Hungary in 1526, the Ottomans’ advance was halted at their failed Siege of Vienna in 1529. A lengthy war of attrition, conducted on his behalf by his younger brother Ferdinand, in the Mediterranean, although there were some successes, Charles was unable to prevent the Ottomans’ increasing naval dominance and the piratical activity of the Barbary Corsairs. Charles opposed the Reformation and in Germany he was in conflict with the Protestant Princes of the Schmalkaldic League who were motivated by religious and political opposition to him. Once the rebellions were quelled the essential Castilian and Burgundian territories remained mostly loyal to Charles throughout his rule, Charles’s Spanish dominions were the chief source of his power and wealth, and they became increasingly important as his reign progressed. In the Americas, Charles sanctioned the conquest by Castillian conquistadors of the Aztec, Castillian control was extended across much of South and Central America. The resulting vast expansion of territory and the flows of South American silver to Castile had profound long term effects on Spain. Charles was only 56 when he abdicated, but after 34 years of rule he was physically exhausted and sought the peace of a monastery. Upon Charles’s abdications, the Holy Roman Empire was inherited by his younger brother Ferdinand, the Spanish Empire, including the possessions in the Netherlands and Italy, was inherited by Charles’s son Philip II. The two empires would remain allies until the 18th century, Charles was born in 1500 as the eldest son of Philip the Handsome and Joanna of Castile in the Flemish city of Ghent, which was part of the Habsburg Netherlands. The culture and courtly life of the Burgundian Low Countries were an important influence in his early life and he was tutored by William de Croÿ, and also by Adrian of Utrecht. He also gained a decent command of German, though he never spoke it as well as French, a witticism sometimes attributed to Charles is, I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men and German to my horse